Palace and fortress were built during the reign of King Kassapa (473-491) on the top of 200-meter rock. On a lower plateau, about halfway up the rock, was built a gate in the form of a giant lion. To this day, preserved only its paws.

The Legend is telling that in the second half of the V century A.D. in Ceylon reigned King Dathusena. The King had two sons – Moggallana and Kashyapa. The throne after his father should fall to the elder son Moggallana, but Kashyapa, who was not only younger son, but also illegitimate, was not going to give up. In 473 year he killed his own father. Moggallana fearing for his life, fled to South India.

Kashyapa became a king, but he lived in the fear of retribution older brother. He decided to build a castle on top of the rock, located in the center of the island. The palace was built with a huge effort. The only way to the top, was narrow staircase carved into the rock.

Moggallana over 18-year gathered the strength to finally attack in the year 491. Kashyapa lost the battle and reportedly committed suicide by cutting his throat with his own dagger.

It is worth to mention that before the King of Kashyapa, the rock was inhabited by Buddhist monks.

I really wanted to share with you our experience and pictures of Sigiriya.

Let’s start with the ticket prices. Sri Lankans pays 50LKR per person, what is less then 50 cents, while the tourists pays 4350LKR per person, exactly 30USD. Is it not madness? I understand that this property has persists mainly from the sales of tickets, but so vast price difference is not encouraging. But I managed to save a little. Our marriadge certificate was released in 2 languages, English and Tamil. Thanks to this and after long talk with the cashier and a tenfold viewing of the document (in the tamil language), my ticket cost the same as local person. However, I had to present our marriage certificate on every single gate.

After crossing the control gate, we saw the moat surrounding the object and the entrance gate. Behind which we could admire the park and water gardens. Park contains water-retaining structures, including sophisticated surface and subsurface hydraulic systems, some of them are working today.

Along the way we passed also a wall of mirrors. Originally this wall was so highly polished that the king could see himself whilst he walked alongside it. Unfortunately, this part of the object was partially covered due to renovation work. I didn’t do any picture there, but I found the perfect one on Wikipedia:

After entering the peak I was initially disappointed. I don’t know if I expected too much from this place, or simply expected something different. It seemed to me that the view of clay and rubble, was not worth the entire trip. Then we walked to another part of the object, where was a pool of water, granaries and unearthly view. The first impression was fully erased. I was amazed.

On the way back we were so hungry that completely forget to visit the museum. Now, looking at the pictures available in the internet, I very much regret it. I hope that in a few years I will get the opportunity to visit this fantastic place again.

I’m 33-year old girl with a wide range of interest. Currently I live in Dubai. I’m designing, photographs, painting and playing on the nerves of my husband, with whom I takes care of two kittens. I never get bored. For 19 years I don’t eat meat. My huge passion are books, buildings and oil painting.

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